Graduate Assistant Position: Qualitative Research Pilot Projects

Highly-Valued Degree Initiative (HVDI)

Research and Evaluation Task Force

The Research and Evaluation Task Force (Task Force #2) of the campus Highly-Valued Degree Initiative is seeking a graduate assistant (GA) for the 2017-18 academic year. This GA position will consist of 100 hours of work to be distributed across the Academic Year from the start of the fall semester (August 28, 2017) through the end of the spring 2018 semester.

A central goal of the task force is to articulate a vision for an integrated, comprehensive, institutionalized research structure to inform practice and support student success. This GA will be an active participant in helping the task force achieve this goal. Specifically, the GA will provide support for faculty members involved in planning and conducting pilot qualitative research projects during the Fall 2017 semester and with data analysis and report generation in the Spring of 2018.

Duties

The GA will perform a range of research and administrative duties related to the project, including:

  • Work with Task Force members and participating faculty to design, schedule and implement qualitative data collection to include focus groups and interviews.
  • Handle administrative duties, such as scheduling meetings with individuals and groups, booking rooms, arranging food as needed, and ensuring all meetings have appropriate supplies
  • Maintain and update files and notes related to project
  • Conduct literature searches and prepare summaries on practices for using qualitative data to inform student success
  • Engage in data collection or assist with data collection
  • Transcribe interview/focus group data
  • Manage and organize qualitative data using Qualitative research software tools
  • Assist with analysis of qualitative data
  • Manipulate data and prepare charts, tables, and graphs for reports
  • Assist in writing reports
  • Participate in regular meetings with project leads to coordinate projects
  • Prepare PowerPoint presentations and conduct project presentations

Minimum qualifications

  • Enrolled as a graduate student in good standing at CSULB
  • Experience doing qualitative research as an undergraduate or graduate student
  • Good written and oral communication skills

Desired qualifications

  • Below is a list of ideal experiences and qualifications. We do not necessarily expect applicants to have all the items listed, but please do speak to the experiences/skills you do have in your letter of application.
  • Interest in institutional effectiveness and/or program improvement for student success
  • The ability to take initiative, work independently, problem-solve, manage and meet timelines and deadlines, organize materials and information, and attend to details
  • Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis
  • Familiarity with Excel and Word for both managing data and preparing professional reports
  • Familiarity with data analysis software (e.g., SPSS, Nvivo, Dedoose)
  • The ability to work in a professional environment
  • Strong professional writing skills (e.g., emails, executive summaries, technical reports).
  • The desire to work in a collaborative environment

Please forward the following to ajaffe@csulb.edu

Letter of interest summarizing skills and experiences

Resume or CV

Names and contact information (email and phone) for 2 work-related references

Brief writing sample (ideally a qualitative research paper)

Please direct questions to Dr. Alexandra Jaffe at ajaffe@csulb.edu

Pay Rate:  $15.00/hour

Application Review Period Begins:  August 18, 2017; open until filled.